The Pros and Cons of EFY and Girls Camp

I haven't been able to post for a while... but it's not because I'm lazy, or undeckish or anything like that... it's 'cause I've been off at EFY (Especially For Youth, which is a REALLY BEAST LDS {Latter Day Saint, also known as Mormon} Church Program for those who don't know) and my Ward's Young Woman's Girls Camp. I only got two days in between and I didn't get to type or do anything on the computer really... and I'm feeling so technologically deprived I feel like I"m about to post, like, twenty posts.... so bear with me here.

There are some good things about EFY and camp... and some bad... but first I wish to focus on the good... 'cause my kickawesome friend Cosette (who is THE MOST OPTIMISTIC PERSON IN THE WORLD!) has inspired me to try taking a slightly different outlook on life. :)

Pros about EFY

• It was THE MOST SPIRITUAL ENVIRONMENT {besides the temple} I HAVE EVER VISTED IN MY LIFE
• Marshall McDonald, the MOST DECKISH HYMN PLAYER IN THE WORLD was there to enlighten our souls with his KICKMAZING music (it's so kickawesome that there are no words to describe it) and to play my favorite hymn (If You Could Hie to Kolob, which is usually played really dully and without a lot of inflection because lots of people don't like it for some odd reason) so well that I will never hear it the same again.
• The classes were really, REALLY good. they were informative, insightful, inspiring, spiritual (to the point where tears were running down your cheeks and soaking up your notes...) and life-changing. I will never be the same again!
• I bore my testimony about God's love for me (which I had acquired throughout the week) at the testimony meeting on Thursday. (Don't wear any makeup on any day at EFY, but if you feel like you can only afford to miss one day of makeup... don't put any on on Thursday. You will cry it all off. Trust me. I didn't wear any makeup... but I saw some other people who did and they didn't look so good after testimony meeting.)
• The Food was AWESOME! I ate SOOOOOOO MUCH! They had chicken and fries (REAL chicken and fries... not the cheap plastic stuff they sell to you at Elementary school and the Prison Camp/School some refer to as Totem Middle School) Italian noodles, really good muffins in, like, every flavor, and delicious pancakes.
• Our counselors were beast. I don't know what else to say about Bruce and Lauren... but they were beast.
• We played fun games... Anthill and Ninja Destruction. (I'll definitely post about these later... they're SOOOOO beast!)
• We had TWO MEGA CHILL dances ("chill" is my new word for "cool", 'cause cool is just so last year) where they played music that was beast and appropriate, and where I met some REALLY HOT GUYS... with really good muscles :)
• I met a guy who's favorite city in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD was Seattle... JUST LIKE ME. (And I thought I was the only one! I'm not alone!)
• I made some REALLY good friends in my company. They might be reading this... they might not... But they're beast too.
• We had a pizza night... which was fun.
• We got to sleep in BEDS, use SHOWERS, HAIRDRYERS, and such... which usually isn't the case with Church Camps.
• My testimony was strengthened in just about every way... and THAT is probably the MOST important (and MEGA BEAST) thing of all.

Pros about Girls Camp

• I was with all my friends! They were all really nice to me and... yeah.
• We got to play in the river at Cascade Park... which was fun, except for the fact that I got pulled down stream a bit... and some other girls had to rescue me
• I got to introduce everyone to Isaac Wright, my blog and all that fun stuff.
• I learned that people are more accepting of vampire-lovers, such as myself than I originally thought.
• LOTS OF GIRLS HATED THE SUN WITH ME. I am not alone. :)
• I got cool gifts from my Secret Sister (thanks Zoe!)
• Testimony Meeting was inspiring, and spiritual like EFY. The felling was slightly different... but it was a good feeling all the same.

Okay... now for the part that's going to make me look like an ungrateful sap. The Cons of EFY and Girls Camp.

Cons about EFY

• I couldn't touch my laptop, iPod, piano, check my email and post on this blog.
• I missed my family (not too much, but I still did).
• There were Cheerleaders sharing the campus with us... and all of them were immodest 24/7. Most of them were also quite fond of waggling certain parts of their bodies which shall not be named, trying to flirt with the Mormon boys, who didn't even want to look at them, hence their lack of clothing, being REALLY snobby and prissy (they were living the stereotype of cheerleaders... it was embarrassing) and cutting us in the lunch line.
• Once there was a whole BLOCKADE of about 300 cheerleaders in front of Cosette's dorm and we had to walk RIGHT THROUGH them to get to her room. It was amazing, but it was also REALLY DISTURBING 'cause you could tell as you walked through them that they were thinking "Why is she wearing so much clothing? It's like... Arizona out here... like totally!" and that was really creepy. (Cheerleaders, besides Rebbecca Thomas.. she's beast, are, like, my WORST NIGHTMARE. Forget vampires, werewolves, zombies, and all that "scary" stuff. Those guys are my friends. Cheerleaders are WAY Scarier.)
• I didn't get much time to read my book (I did finish it... but I had to use every spare moment to do so) and do other things like write in The Broken Book... and other authorly stuff. There was minimal free time at EFY. It was go, go, go all week. (Part of the reason I didn't get to read my book though was because it had a picture on it that I assumed would disturb about half of the people in the lunch room with us... so I tried to keep it secret from them. It's really NOT a bad book... it's actually really good... and the picture isn't really bad either... but here's what the cover looked like.
  
  Do you see now why they (my worst nightmare) wouldn't approve? There's a DEAD CHEERLEADER on it! It makes me look like a murderer!

Cons about Girls Camp

• It was HOT. Like REAL ARIZONA HOT. On Thursday it was 85 degrees!
• I got REALLY BAD sunburns on my cheeks and on the back of my ears... they still hurt really bad.
• I got really bad sun rashes on my face and arms just like last year. (seriously, I'm ALLERGIC to the sun. I get hives when it's rays touch my skin. It's INSANE!)
• Mosquitoes mistook me for the Puget Sound Blood Bank... luckily I packed my Benadryl... but it's still totally lame.
• Spiders, earwigs and a vast assortment of flies were everywhere.
• Our tents were freezing cold at night and boiling hot during the day. (Come on! We live in a TEMPERATE ZONE! Why can't the weather at least act like that's the case?)
• I got dehydrated and felt miserable most of the week. :(
• Again, I couldn't touch my iPod, my laptop, or blog, check my email and start a Facebook account (which I plan to do 'cause all my EFY friends have one) and that was lame.
• The food wasn't as good as EFY food. It was still good... but I started to miss regular home food.
• I missed my family a LOT.
• The zipline is really dangerous now, thanks to the park's attempts to make it safer. (Seriously, to ride it safely, you had to wear skateboard gear! The zipline, like, smacked you right into the tree!)
• My friend Cosette got burned REALLY BAD. Worse than me. And like EVERYWHERE. It's Horrible.
• There was more free-time here, and that was nice, 'cause Cosette got to draw everyone a boyfriend (mine looks amazing like Isaac Wright... which makes me wonder...) but I really didn't get to read anything. Oh well that's alright. :)
• We didn't sing enough camp songs/play silly games like kick the can and Big booty. We need to do more of that kind stuff. Ooh and we need to do more stuff like we did my first year, like go to water parks, go river-rafting, etc. That was fun. :)

Overall both Girls Camp and EFY were beast and I have no regrets about going to both of them. However, I'm so glad to be home!